Problem Solving with Strategic Thinking While Learning Level Design Basics
Title: Creepy Carnival
Work: Level Design Solo Project
Application(s): Unreal Engine
Work: Level Design Solo Project
Application(s): Unreal Engine
Roles: Lead Programmer, Lead Level Designer
Skills: Level Design, 3D Lighting
Published: 21 April 2021
As part of a Level Design assignment, I was tasked with building a video game level from the ground up in Unreal Engine 4. Because of a suggestion from the professor on a previous assignment, I decided to make my level carnival themed, later shifting to an abandoned carnival theme after going over the process of adding enemies and other dangerous elements (more on that later). The player’s goal is simply to escape the carnival, solving a few puzzles and navigating the terrain within.
During the development process, I encountered a few problems I had to find solutions or workarounds to and eventually overcome. One problem came up after I made the decision to abandon the aforementioned dangerous elements, preferring a peaceful, albeit eerie, environment. Without the danger, what was I going to do with the tents that served as the player’s safe spaces, designed to protect the player from harm by having the player duck into them?
The solution I came up with was to alter a door puzzle that ends the first section of the level to include them — instead of doing a ball puzzle that would open the door like I originally intended, the player would need to find a key hidden in one of the tents and use it to unlock the door. This way, the tents were still utilized in a way that made sense, and the level wouldn’t need to be radically redesigned.
Another problem I encountered was found much earlier in the level — the terrain felt too flat, with little to no elevation changes present. My solution to that was to block off the usual path with debris and have the player cut through the entrance to a defunct carnival ride, not only solving the elevation problem, but also providing the player with a clear view of their destination — the exit to the level was visible from the highest part of the ride platform, giving the player a sense of direction to follow when traversing the mirror maze that was coming up.